Breast-feeding

[fertilethoughts]

Hi Everyone :wave: ,

I am wondering if anyone has overcome the following problem: I was breast-feeding my newborn in hospital, all went well until my nipples started bleeding. I decided to express, it was small amounts of colostrum as my milk hadn't come in. I then started to formula feed. He loved it. I left hospital and my breasts were not sore so I put him back on but he DIDN'T LIKE IT. He will not come back on. He is disinterested. He will shut his mouth, turn his head or start screaming when I try.I now express my milk and then give it to him in a bottle. He is just 12 days old, is it possible to get him interested in the breast or is that it? How bad is it to formula feed?

Thanks
xxfertilethoughts

[Funkychicken]

Firstly, congratulations on the arrival of your bubba! How exciting for you!

By the sounds of it, the most important thing here is whether you want to keep trying breastfeeding or continue with Formula. From your post, you don't seem to be sure about which road you want to take. If you want to continue BF, then I would get onto a lactation consultant (try the hospital and/or ABA) and take it from there. As long as you are expressing, you will continue to produce milk, so there really isn't any need to be concerned about your supply at this stage. You can continue to express and feed him this from a bottle until he resumes the breast. You will need to keep offering him the breast often and I would do this just prior to giving him the bottle of EBM unless he is frantic and/or upset.
I don't know if BAD is the right term for Formula. There are many babies out there who have thrived on formula and who are happy, healthy and contented with happy, healthy, contented mother's. But it isn't an equal of breastmilk or an exact subsitute. I don't think I need to go into the details of BM vs' FM, it's been done here many times. The bottom line is going to be-what do you want to do? If you want to continue BF, then as I said above, keep persevering, it will get better and easier and I'm sure bub will get the hang of it too, assuming there are no issues with tounge-tie or the like. Remember bub is only 12 days old. Many bubbies are still learning the ropes for a long time past that. In fact it takes between 3-6 months to properly establish BF. Good luck and I'm sure there are many other's here who can help you out.:)

[SilverStarfish]

Yup, that's great advice :thumbsup:

[mumma bear]

I agree. I would definately get to a lactation consultant, they are wonderful.
You might need to finger feed to get bub to open their mouth properly but a consultant would go through all of that with you and work out a solution.

In the end it is up to you. From personal experience you have to stay really dedicated to keep up expressed feeds, i did it for 6 weeks when DD was 4 months old and in the end went for formula.

[meme]

yes mums have overcome this problem . i have heard it mostly refferred to as breast refusal or a nursing strike. it must be very frustrating and upsetting. i know i just sorta expected breastfeeding to just happen and it is a huge thing to give birth and then be straight into feeding a baby and it doesn't seem to work. i wish i had known beforehand that breastfeeding can take some time to get the hang of and that it is something that you need to learn ( and so does baby).

there is good breastfeeding help available. i personally got heaps of good help from the breastfeeding association and they have a website too. if you can get an lc or go back to your hospital they should be able to help you aswell.


I don't know if BAD is the right term for Formula. There are many babies out there who have thrived on formula and who are happy, healthy and contented with happy, healthy, contented mother's. But it isn't an equal of breastmilk or an exact subsitute. funky chicken has put this very well.
i would go a little further and say that there can be health risks in using formula, and you need to make your choice an informed one and weigh up any risks and benefits for yourself.

something that may help is to find another way to comp feed your baby as suckling from a bottle and a breast using very different tongue actions and could be confusing your baby.
you could also try lot's of skin on skin cuddles while you and he are relaxed, not focused on breastfeeding but just letting him enjoy being near to your boobs you may find that just cuddling him without a shirt on he will begin to nuzzle and seek the nipple.
i have also heard of slipping feeds in while the baby is still a bit asleep before they wake fully and realise they may take the nipple.

good luck with it all.

[jarrahsmumma]

If you can please try to speak to and ABA counsellor (they are free and 24hrs)
BREASTFEEDING HELPLINES
ACT/Southern New South Wales (02) 6258 8928
New South Wales (02) 8853 4999
Queensland (07) 3844 8977 or (07) 3844 8166
Townsville (07) 4723 5566
Cairns (07) 4058 0007
Toowoomba (07) 4639 2401
South Australia and NT (08) 8411 0050
Northern Territory counsellor contact line (08) 8411 0301
Tasmania (03) 6223 2609
Tasmania - North (03) 6331 2799
Victoria (03) 9885 0653
Western Australia (08) 9340 1200

they will help you get bub back to the breast, often it is a few simpple trick and tips.

All our love

[xkwzit]

I had EXACTLY this with DD1, wound up expressing all her feeds for the first 5 weeks due to nipple confusion. Her attachment just got worse and worse.

I would see an LC right now, they can work wonders and make sure that you keep your supply up during this time. I would see an LC over anyone from the ABA, they are not necessarily the best ppl to help you out with technical probs. They are volunteer mums, like us and while they are trained to some degree, may not have had direct experience with your problem that a full time professional would have.

What eventually worked for me was feeding DD1 through a nipple sheild, enough like a bottle that she was happy to suck. You would want to be seeing an LC though, sometimes extended feeding with the nipple sheild can decrease stimulation and milk flow. We feed her with a shield for about 3 weeks until we weaned her off them.

Please see someone and get some help, there is a lot of support out there to help you continue BF. You can always change to formula later, but early intervention may save your ability to BF your baby.

Cheers

[kadownie]

had this problem with one of my twins- I think it was mostly nipple confusion and a like for the bottle over the breast (in terms of milk flow) but we persevered, had lots of practical support and am still breastfeeding them and they're nearly two- it was so worth the initial effort, though it was frustrating there for a little while. I also used a nipple shield to get her back on the booby-

definately see a LC